H. M. Posnett facts for kids
Hutcheson Macaulay Posnett (born around 1855 – died 1927) was an Irish-New Zealand lawyer and smart thinker. He was a very early expert in a field called comparative literature. This field looks at how different literatures from around the world are connected.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Posnett was born in Dublin, Ireland. He went to Trinity College in Dublin and finished his studies there.
Time in New Zealand
From 1885 to 1890, Posnett worked as a professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He taught subjects like ancient Greek and Roman studies (Classics) and English Literature. He also helped test students in economics.
His Work on Literature
Posnett wrote several books. Two of his earlier works were The Historical Method in Ethics, Jurisprudence, and Political Economy (1882) and The Ricardian Theory of Rent (1884).
Comparative Literature Book
His most famous book was Comparative Literature, published in 1886. Many experts today see this book as the starting point for the study of comparative literature.
Ideas in the Book
Posnett's book was influenced by ideas from Herbert Spencer and something called Social Darwinism. This idea suggested that societies, like living things, evolve from simple to more complex forms. Posnett believed that literature also evolved this way. He thought literature started simple and shared by groups, then became more individual and complex over time.
His work was also shaped by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's idea of Weltliteratur, which means "world literature." This idea suggests that literature from different countries can be seen as one big, connected body of work.
Posnett was the first scholar in the English-speaking world to use the phrase "comparative literature" in a major academic work.
How the Book Was Received
When his book came out, not everyone liked it. A magazine called the Saturday Review wrote that they found "very little interest" in it. They said the book seemed messy and had lots of information "shot all over the place." They also felt it was far from what they thought the study of literature should be.
Later Life
In 1890, Posnett left his job in New Zealand and went back to Dublin. There, he worked as a lawyer.
Death
Hutcheson Macaulay Posnett passed away on 5 September 1927. He died in Kingstown, Ireland.
